5
charged in identity theft ring
Authorities
have charged five men, including a Navy petty officer based in Virginia, in connection
with a ring that purchased thousands of dollars worth of merchandise from local
stores using the stolen identities of Navy officers.
Petty Officer 3rd Class
Curtis L. Phillips, 27, has been charged with violating the Uniform Code of Military
Justice in connection with the identity theft case, a Navy spokesman said.
Petty Officer Phillips, who has been with the Navy for four years, is stationed
aboard the USS George Washington, an aircraft carrier based in Norfolk, said Mike
Maus, spokesman for the Naval Air Force Atlantic Fleet.
The carrier returned
in July from a six-month deployment to the Persian Gulf.
Petty Officer Phillips
will face an Article 32 hearing -- the military equivalent of a grand jury hearing
-- on Sept. 23, Navy spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Cappy Surette said. He could be court-martialed
if the hearing finds enough evidence to proceed with the investigation.
Authorities
suspect that between June and November last year, five men from the Baltimore
area fraudulently used the identities of about 20 Navy officers aboard the George
Washington to obtain credit accounts at stores such as Home Depot and Target.
The five men also have been charged with fraudulently using the identities
of at least five patients who used Quest Diagnostics lab testing.
A Quest
employee, Darren G. Rogers, 21, was charged in April with stealing the identities
of those patients. Baltimore County police said they are investigating whether
Petty Officer Phillips stole the identities of the Navy officers.
The military
violations that Petty Officer Phillips is charged with include larceny of a car,
larceny of a motorcycle, making a fraudulent purchase more than $100, wrongfully
using a government computer and theft, Mr. Maus said Tuesday.
He said the
charges stem from incidents in October, but he did not provide details.
Authorities
are still deciding where to prosecute the men involved in the identity theft case.
Mr. Rogers and the four other civilians who were arrested and charged in
April in Baltimore County could be prosecuted locally or federally, said county
police spokesman Bill Toohey. Some of the illegal purchases were made in Fairfax
County.
Petty Officer Phillips could be prosecuted under military law or
under civilian law, Mr. Maus said.
Courtesy of: http://washingtontimes.com/metro/20040915-104345-4231r.htm